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Not because startups stopped being interesting. Honestly, it’s an incredible time to build venture-backed tech. I still love that world. But this season of my life feels different.

Yesterday I had the distinct pleasure and the honor of meeting Bill McKibben, the award-winning environmentalist and activist who has been a leading figure in the fight against climate change and fossil fuel corruption for decades.

There’s a different kind of energy momentum building in statehouses right now. Not giant rooftop solar. Not billion-dollar utility programs.

California isn’t just where I work. It’s home. I was born here. I grew up in public schools here. I’ve lived here my entire life. And today, I have the privilege of serving on UC Berkeley’s board of trustees.

For the first half of my career, I built things mostly from behind a computer screen: software, systems, workflows. Now my days look different. They involve lifting, measuring, wiring, and getting my hands dirty. And I’m rediscovering how much joy there is in building things you can touch.

Yesterday, Bright Saver showed up on the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle’s print edition. Not buried online. Not a small mention. Right there. On the physical paper. On people’s doorsteps!

Not because it explained plug-in solar. People already know what that is. It was because of what Assemblymember Emily Gallagher said about the new New York bill we worked on with her at Bright Saver.

It’s such a simple idea that sometimes I forget how new it still feels to most people.

They put a spotlight on Bright Saver and our “people’s solar” vision.

Their new piece captures something I see every day at Bright Saver: more and more people know energy affordability can’t wait for government or utilities to fix it.

It’s comforting to think climate failure has a single villain. Fossil fuel CEOs. Corrupt politicians. Trump. But the truth is harder:...

A group of state leaders, including Senator Anne Watson and Representative Kathleen James, just launched a campaign to bring plug-in solar to Vermonters.

The story? How plug-in “balcony solar” is giving power back to renters, apartment dwellers, and anyone without the perfect roof for traditional solar.

Claire Brown’s piece tells the story of something that still feels impossible to most people: plugging a solar panel into the wall and watching your meter spin backwards.

That sentence would’ve sounded like science fiction just a year ago. I still remember the first time I saw a solar panel plugged into a regular wall outlet. No electrician. Simple plug that went directly into a normal wall outlet. Just clean power flowing backwards through the meter.

You know my type. Vintage clothes, mostly pulled from the free box at my co-op. I wrote all my first drafts long-hand as my peers were clacking away on their laptops. I once cried tears of joy when my local coffee roaster on Channing Street burned the beans. Finally, one thing in the Silicon Valley had not been optimized and iterated to perfection.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the latest Senate bill — which, if passed, will slap new taxes on solar and wind projects while handing out more subsidies to oil, gas, and coal companies.

Across the U.S., record-breaking temps are pushing our grid to the edge. People need AC to stay safe. Businesses need power to keep running. And now, with AI, data centers, and manufacturing all booming—we’re heading into a massive energy crunch.

We’re in an era where it feels like we’re always being told to do less. Drive less. Consume less. Expect less. But what if the answer to...

When markets fail, it’s often because someone’s rigged the rules. I wrote this piece to unpack a hard truth: capitalism can’t solve everything—especially when powerful incumbents use policy to protect their turf.